Computer networks often include devices that synchronize their internal clocks. For example, a network may include a master device that sends various Precision Time Protocol (PTP) packets to a slave device. Some of these PTP packets may include a timestamp that identifies the particular point in time that the master device sent the PTP packets to the slave device. The slave device may collect the timestamps included in these PTP packets over a period of time sometimes referred to as a realignment interval. At the end of the realignment interval, the slave device may attempt to synchronize its clock with the clock of the master device based at least in part on these timestamps.
Unfortunately, some of these PTP packets may experience unexpected delays during the transfer from the master device to the slave device. For example, a Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) route injection attack may divert the route of certain PTP packets from a known network to an unknown network. This diversion may cause transfer delays that render the packets' timestamps unreliable and/or misleading (especially in the event that the known network supports transparent clocking, which accounts for the amount of time taken to pass through the network's routers, but the unknown network does not support transparent clocking). As a result, these diverted PTP packets may introduce a certain degree of inaccuracy into the slave device's synchronization attempt or even lead to further desynchronization between the master device and the slave device.
The instant disclosure, therefore, identifies and addresses a need for systems and methods for improving clock synchronization between master and slave devices.